The sale of homes without possession is breaking into the Spanish real estate market, having gone from being completely non-existent a few years ago to accounting for 2.6% of all homes for sale in Spain, according to a study published by idealista based on properties advertised in its database in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This first study, which cannot yet show the evolution of this data, indicates that in this period, throughout Spain, there were a total of 20,464 homes advertised on idealista that acknowledged suffering a process of occupation.
In the case of Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura (province of Las Palmas), the percentage is slightly higher as it reaches 2.8%, but far from the alarm levels generated by some voices in the sector.
The province with the most houses for sale in a state of occupation is Barcelona, which reaches 7.6%. It is followed by the provinces of Toledo (4.1%), Murcia (4%), Girona (3.8%) and Seville (3.7%).
With a rate higher than the national average, in addition to Las Palmas, are also the provinces of Tarragona (3.4%), Lleida (3.1%), Almería (2.7%) and Huelva (2.7%).
Madrid is at the same national average (2.6%), while Soria is the province with the lowest incidence, as it only reaches 0.1%. It is followed by Ourense (0.3%), La Rioja and Palencia (0.4% in both cases).
Data by cities
Girona is the Spanish capital in which the phenomenon of the sale of occupied homes is most pronounced, as 8.8% of the homes sold in the city are advertised as occupied. It is followed by the cities of Murcia (5.5%), Seville (4.7%), Almería (3.9%) and Málaga (3.8%). With 3.5% of the offer in a situation of occupation, we find Barcelona and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, while in Lleida and Valencia the figure is situated at 3.4%.
Above the national average are also Huelva (3.3%), Palma (2.9%), Tarragona (2.8%) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (2.7%).
The rest of the major markets have a weight of occupied homes for sale lower than the average: in Madrid they account for 2.3% of the total, in Alicante 2.1%, in San Sebastián 1.3% and in Bilbao only 1%.
Logroño is the capital where the relationship between occupied homes for sale and the rest of the market is less palpable, as it only accounts for 0.2% of the total for sale. It is followed by the cities of Salamanca, Ourense, Guadalajara, Cáceres, Palencia and Ciudad Real, which share 0.4%.
